Fontanel sunken in--shunt problem?

My little guy is 8 weeks old now and has had his shunt since 6 days old. We have seen the neurosurgeon every 2 weeks to keep a close eye on him. We actually have an appt tomorrow afternoon so my question will be answered, but I'm nervous and hoping to get some insight from you experienced parents. This week, Bennett's fontanel seems sunken in a bit. Its a pretty big area and makes me worried! He doesn't really show any symptoms of a problem, but is his shunt overdraining? Is this a problem? I'm so scared of shunt malfunction! Does anyone have experience with this issue?

Comments (7)

Caleb's fontanel used to fluctuate when he was an infant. His soft spot was HUGE so you could really see when it was sucken in and it used to do that quite a bit. It seemed like different positions would make it sink in more. I think this is normal but I'm sure your doc will be able to tell you more.

After Madison's shunt surgery, her soft spot seemed really sunken to me, but I was used to it being pretty full. They can fluctuate, and in a typical baby, I think a sunken soft is almost never a concern, just a bulging one.

They do over drain sometimes, but I think there are symptoms involved. maybe someone here has been through it. I'm sure your neuro can reassure you as well.

Dehydration can also affect it I believe. Getting enough fluids? Are you in the heat wave areas?

Hmm Madison's has always felt sunken in and I always thought thats how it was supose to feel just not tense or hard and everyone she see's always says it feels how its supose to so I wouldn't worry about it as long as all the sudden it doesn't feel really hard and full like not sunken in and her's is really big soft spot as well I dunno im with you still new to all this stuff but I find myself feeling it all the time making sure it doesn't feel different all the sudden its a bad habbit as we all know lol. As long as he isn't showing any signs of his shunt bothering him he is fine im sure. :)

Yes, fontanels can flucture, especially based on the baby's position. It may seem fuller if she's laying down, and more sunken if she's upright. Dehydration will make it appear sunken. The shunt can overdrain, but the symptoms would primarily be the same for overdraining and not working--irritable, vomiting, lethargic, sunsetting eyes, etc. Zoe's used to fluctuate & it would totally freak me out. Now it's closed up and I am so glad..that thing drove me crazy :)

We just dealt with that with Chance after his trio of shunt surgeries. His soft spot was super sunken and he was spitting up and once vomiting. They said they can cause headaches and causing those effects. Not sure if it would really cause damage - but it was enough for them to have us bring Chance in to adjust the programmable setting...easy fix if it's a programmable shunt. But as others have said...no signs of problems then I'd not worry so much - trust me you will know if there are problems with the shunt! :o) They will tell you "if it's not broke don't fix it" - because shunts are that finicky.

Thanks for your responses! I don't think he's dehydrated. I fed him right away when I noticed that it was sunken in thinking that might be the problem- and we are in Indiana with the awful heatwave. But, it didn't help. I always notice that it changes with positioning, but it never was sunken in like this until this week. It's not terribly drastic, but it is different for him which is why I'm concerned. I feel better after your responses, so hopefully we will get news that it's normal from the neurosurgeon today. Thanks, I will let you know how it goes!

We got a good report today from the head ultrasound and neurosurgeon! She said that Bennett looks good and his soft spot is looking good, so the sunken in is not a problem. She's really happy with the way he looks so we don't have to go back (except for clinic) for 3 months :). We've been going every 2 weeks so this is good news! He also doesn't have to wear his bandage anymore and can finally take a bath :). And, his sleep apnea improved a bit in the last month! I'm so happy because I've been so worried about him

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